More hockey realignment?

[Fishy]

Wouldn't count on it that fast. Hockey programs are expensive Title IX compliance killers.

lol.

Nebraska's athletic budget is over $100,000,000.

They'll manage.

 

[zls44]

lol.

Nebraska's athletic budget is over $100,000,000.

They'll manage.

They'll do what everyone else does and add women's rowing. They can even use one of the two nearby lakes to do it.

 

[Fishy]

Pinnacle Bank does has the capability to host hockey and they do have the Ice Box nearby - Nebraska could swing it if they wanted to. (They just don't seem to want to right now.)

The major donor cited above is actually not for competitive hockey - UNL is trying to build an ice center with two rinks for student/community/club use and they have a huge donation towards that facility.

 

[buddy]

100% not true. They hate each other on the ice, but there is immense mutual respect between the programs. They've been tied at the hip for almost 100 years. For all their crappiness, Jerry York and former BU coach Jack Parker are very close and have great respect for one another. They would absolutely positively not leave the other one - it would be wholly detrimental to either program. Not to mention, as BC78 said, neither program has any desire to leave HE. It'd be a lateral move to the B1G, at best, with five times the travel costs and headaches. HE is a bus league outside of ND. One flight a year versus 10+. No coach would sign up for that.

Even if BC joined the B1G in all sports and hockey was forced to go, they'd likely push for BU as a hockey-only addition as a travel partner and to even out the league at eight teams. Not a single program in the B1G would have any problem with it, and many would likely push for the same scenario. Better for them, if they have to come east, to have two teams instead of one.

Never trust BC.

 

[zls44]

Pinnacle Bank does has the capability to host hockey and they do have the Ice Box nearby - Nebraska could swing it if they wanted to. (They just don't seem to want to right now.)

The major donor cited above is actually not for competitive hockey - UNL is trying to build an ice center with two rinks for student/community/club use and they have a huge donation towards that facility.

The Breslow Ice Center is being built with the ability to expand out to 5-6,000 seats. Not sure how, but that's the plan.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

This is a different time. If 12 schools from various P5 leagues were offered 100 mil per year to join up, GOR's and ancient history and respect would go out the door. What is going on in college sports is just survive, thrive and a bit of greed (much like outsourcing). Don't let any romantic notions like academics or competing with the best blind you.

None of what you said has anything to do with the points I made. The way things work in college hockey is far different from football or basketball.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

They'll do what everyone else does and add women's rowing. They can even use one of the two nearby lakes to do it.

Wouldn't even come close. Only real option would be to add women's hockey too. Entirely plausible, but I don't see the steam for it right now. New hockey programs generally have rumblings prior to anything happening, there's nothing right now for UNL. On the flipside, there's been rumblings for years about Illinois, Indiana, and Purdue. Those I could foresee happening at some point. UNL in the next few years, no.

 

[Cleanface]

On the flipside, there's been rumblings for years about Illinois, Indiana, and Purdue.

Hey now...Really?? I like that!

How have I not heard these rumblings? Any quick links I can peruse??

 

[Fishy]

I don't think anyone in the Big Ten is on the verge of upgrading - my guess would be Illinois will be the first, but that's speculation. Their ACHA club is extremely successful, they're in a good spot to recruit and their jump would be the least painful. Northwestern might be the second-most likely - I don't put any stock in IU or Purdue right now.

In any event, short of affiliate members or making the big call to the 860, they're gonna sit at six for a while.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Hey now...Really?? I like that!

How have I not heard these rumblings? Any quick links I can peruse??

It's just rumblings around the internet. Nothing concrete, no articles on it, a couple of reporters musing about it here and there. The main thinking is these schools are in areas where hockey is relatively popular, they're large, their ACHA teams are very good, and draw decent crowds.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

I don't think anyone in the Big Ten is on the verge of upgrading - my guess would be Illinois will be the first, but that's speculation. Their ACHA club is extremely successful, they're in a good spot to recruit and their jump would be the least painful. Northwestern might be the second-most likely - I don't put any stock in IU or Purdue right now.

In any event, short of affiliate members or making the big call to the 860, they're gonna sit at six for a while.

This.

 

[frankthetank]

I don't think anyone in the Big Ten is on the verge of upgrading - my guess would be Illinois will be the first, but that's speculation. Their ACHA club is extremely successful, they're in a good spot to recruit and their jump would be the least painful. Northwestern might be the second-most likely - I don't put any stock in IU or Purdue right now.

In any event, short of affiliate members or making the big call to the 860, they're gonna sit at six for a while.

We've been talking about an Illinois D-1 hockey program since at least since I was a freshman there... which was 18 years ago. The club team has a great fan base (sells out an 1000-seat rink every game, which is amazing for a club and we're playing teams like Iowa State as opposed to Michigan and Wisconsin) and has long been competitive at a high level with a solid hockey recruiting territory between Chicago and St. Louis. Everything on paper points to Illinois having more than enough support for D-1 hockey. If I had $100 million to spare, I'd be getting the Frank the Tank Arena Ice Arena built promptly in Champaign.

The issue is that Big Ten-level hockey is insanely expensive even with Big Ten TV money coming in. Penn State was in exactly the same position that Illinois is in now - great club team in a recruiting area and with a fan base that could support D-1 hockey. They talked about adding D-1 hockey for about 20 years, too. However, it took the largest donation in the history of the school for ANYTHING to get D-1 hockey at Penn State. Let that sink in: it took a larger donation than what Penn State had received for football, academics and literally everything else in its history to finally get D-1 hockey off the ground. Those types of donations are few and far between for any school.

I really wish Illinois, Northwestern and other Big Ten schools could get hockey programs started up, but it's a massive capital investment even for the wealthiest schools. As a result, lacrosse is probably more likely as additional men's sports for Big Ten schools (to the extent that any other men's sports are added at all).

 

[B1GOSU]

I really don't mind B1G hockey only having six teams. It helps to build a rivalry by playing each other more. Until last year, Ohio State had only played Wisconsin and Minnesota in hockey a handful of times throughout the previous decades. Now we get four games against each team, plus any additional games in the conference hockey tournament. If more teams are added, it is likely that OSU would play fewer games vs. Minnesota and Wisconsin, unless they took games away from the nonconference schedule and added additional games to the conference schedule to compensate. I would rather OSU play Wisconsin and Minnesota 8+ times per year than play fewer games with extra teams in the conference, especially if those extra teams were "affiliate members". Now if those teams were B1G teams adding the sport, then I would be ok with the expansion because its in-conference. However, as has already been pointed out, it is not likely to be added by anyone else anytime soon unless a big time donor steps up.

Since the B1G already receives an automatic bid to the tournament, the only reason to add more teams would be if the television money more than compensated for the additional team or teams.

What I would like to see would be for Michigan and Michigan State to add Women's Ice Hockey programs so that we have the minimum requirement of six teams to play women's ice hockey as a conference sport. Given that the infrastructure is already in place (same ice as the men skate on) and given that Title IX always leads to the need for women' s sports, it seems like it would be more likely for women's ice hockey to be added at Michigan and Michigan State than it would be for any other team in the conference to add men's ice hockey in the first place. With four members (Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin and Minnesota), women's ice hockey is now the sport with the most participants in the conference that is not currently a conference sport.

 

[huskymedic]

I wouldn't count on ASU, at best maybe one of the B1G schools adds a program.

Bit more smoke to the possible ASU upgrade rumors?

http://www.houseofsparky.com/2014/8...theastern-university-ryan-belonger-sun-devils

... Or just a kid who likes Tempe over Boston?

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Bit more smoke to the possible ASU upgrade rumors?

http://www.houseofsparky.com/2014/8...theastern-university-ryan-belonger-sun-devils

... Or just a kid who likes Tempe over Boston?

Honestly, more in the cam of the latter from all accounts I've read.

 

[huskymedic]

SBNCollegePuck 2:17pm via SB Nation
Arizona State to announce plans for D-1 hockey program per @cmorganfoxaz sbnation.com/e/7006624

 

[DarthGrumpy]

SBNCollegePuck 2:17pm via SB Nation
Arizona State to announce plans for D-1 hockey program per @cmorganfoxaz sbnation.com/e/7006624

Well, they should at least be able to out-draw the Coyotes.

 

[FDNY99]

SBNCollegePuck 2:17pm via SB Nation
Arizona State to announce plans for D-1 hockey program per @cmorganfoxaz sbnation.com/e/7006624

This has been one of the worst kept secrets in college sports the past few months.

 

[Afroabe224]

Interested to see which conference they join (WCHA/NCHC). Either way, quite the hike from Tempe to Houghton, MI or Duluth, MN!

 

[dayooper]

Interested to see which conference they join (WCHA/NCHC). Either way, quite the hike from Tempe to Houghton, MI or Duluth, MN!

Michigan Tech: #1 ranked Hockey Team! Yooper power baby!

 

[Afroabe224]

Michigan Tech: #1 ranked Hockey Team! Yooper power baby!

Not sure if Twitter has made it to the UP yet, but it sure looks like they've found a way to #Huskyup at MTU!

 

[upstater]

I doubt that BU would give up HE membership (and the local rivalries) for what would at best be a lateral move in terms of quality of conference and a ton of additional travel costs. BU is like BC in that men's hockey success (and the Beanpot) is really all they have in terms of athletics to draw any sense of pride from.

They do have men's soccer as well, and they get some fans, but that is all. They used to have good wrestling. A couple decades ago.

 

[upstater]

Cue broken record: if Buffalo ever starts a D1 hockey program, they become a perennial powerhouse on day 1. Unfortunately, the people in athletics are from down south and they don't get it. Hockey is king in Buffalo. Buffalo is right next door to Ontario. Buffalo's high school and prep hockey is at a very very high level, higher than Boston's.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

Buffalo's high school and prep hockey is at a very very high level, higher than Boston's.

Jack Eichel and the 11 other MA players on the BU roster would like a word with you.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Cue broken record: if Buffalo ever starts a D1 hockey program, they become a perennial powerhouse on day 1. Unfortunately, the people in athletics are from down south and they don't get it. Hockey is king in Buffalo. Buffalo is right next door to Ontario. Buffalo's high school and prep hockey is at a very very high level, higher than Boston's.

U Buffalo could be good in hockey; but, Buffalo as a recruiting area is far behind the top 2 - Minneapolis/St. Paul and Boston. Boson hockey is a lot like NJ football. The area is loaded with perennially strong teams whose play improves year after year de to the competition between each other. That challenge and their success allows them to cast (not recruit, wink, wink) a wider net every year to bring in even higher quality talent. That's why Don Bosco (NJ football) has players from upstate NY, PA, southern NJ, and even NYC on their roster while Catholic Memorial (Boston Hockey) has had kids from as far away as Quebec on their roster. The 'best' team in Buffalo may be able to run with the Central Catholic Conference in Boston, as much as hockey teams from Don Bosco and Delbarton from NJ could do so also; but, on a whole, the top 10 teams from Boston would beat the top 10 teams from Buffalo 9 of 10 times.